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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne , centre, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois, right, and Nova Scotia Premier Darryl Dexter, listen to Elder Walter Cooke conduct the opening prayer for Premiers from across the country and National Aboriginal Organization leaders during a meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., on July 24Photo: Aaron Lynett/The Canadian Press

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. — Canada‘s premiers are joining aboriginal leaders in calling for a public inquiry into missing indigenous women in this country.

“It speaks to the most vulnerable people in our community, and when they go missing, we all are worse off; and we want to make sure that they’re safe, that our streets our safe and young women are safe, regardless of who they are,” said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, after a meeting of the provincial and territorial leaders gathered for their annual summer retreat.

More than 580 aboriginal women are believed to have been killed or have gone missing since 1970, according to research by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, which lost some federal funding in 2010.

The president of the association, Michele Audette, noted that women were five times more at risk of dying from violent crimes than their counterparts in the rest of the country, but that many were afraid to speak out.

“When you denounce violence against a person, it (winds up looking) like you’re denouncing the community because we live so close (together),” Audette said at a joint news conference with other aboriginal leaders and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who chaired the meeting.

“I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist, and I don’t think you need a national inquiry, to find out what the problem is,” Valcourt said at the time. “This is happening because, we know, of the legacy of decades of policies towards First Nations that have resulted into what we have today. What is the way out? The way out is not to study anymore. The way out is to take action.”

But Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said governments in Canada should also consider economic implications of the problem, referring to federal estimates, from the Justice Department, that domestic violence cost Canadian society about $7 billion in 2009.

Two premiers, Alberta’s Alison Redford and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Kathy Dunderdale were absent from the discussion on aboriginal issues, but Redford said she supported the decision to call for a public inquiry and was pleased the premiers had taken an “important step forward together.”

The Alberta premier told the Edmonton Journal earlier that she was unable to attend the discussion because of a meeting with the Insurance Bureau of Canada following up on issues surrounding the devastating floods that struck Alberta this summer.

Meanwhile, the Ontario premier, who continues to chair meetings with her counterparts until Friday, said they would discuss a host of different issues, including a federal jobs skills training program and the need for improving Canada’s national infrastructure so that it can withstand a changing climate.

“The realities of aging infrastructure, combined with the changes in climate patterns, really makes it imperative that we have strong and coherent investment in infrastructure across the country,” Wynne said.

Premiers are also expected to report on progress in creating a new national energy strategy.

They are also slated to discuss Canada-European free-trade negotiations, Senate reforms, health care, and cyberbullying.

But although many of these issues involve the federal government spending or policies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t meet with the premiers collectively at the retreat.

Some political observers say Harper has good reason to avoid first ministers’ meetings featuring the prime minister and premiers: it would simply turn into a gang-up on the federal government with limited political benefit for the Conservatives.

“They do tend to become a bit of a political show . . . people use the platform for some sort of grandstanding for the voters at home,” said Jim Armour, vice-president of public affairs at Summa Strategies and former director of communications to Harper while in opposition.